A Bellevue man alleged to have been support manager for the illicit goods website Silk Road 2.0 was arrested last week and charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office with conspiracy to distribute heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine.

Not long after the FBI arrested operator Ross Ulbricht in October 2013 and shut down the website — popular for purchasing illicit goods like drugs and firearms — Silk Road 2.0 was created. Operating like its predecessor, SR2 uses a special worldwide network of computers to conceal Internet Protocols and protect its users’ anonymity.

Homeland Security’s investigation into the latest iteration of the underground website cast a spotlight on Brian Farrell, 26, whose IP address was found to have been used to access the vendor portal for SR2, according to a search warrant affidavit, prompting Homeland Security to begin surveillance on the Bellevue man’s home from early August to late December.

Farrell was detained in Chicago by Customs and Border Protection officers while returning home from Europe on Dec. 20. He allegedly refused to provide investigators with pass codes to several computer devices or explain why he was traveling with so many digital devices, according to the affidavit. Those items were seized and forwarded to Homeland Security Investigations in Seattle.

HSI special agents contacted Farrell and his roommate at their Bellevue home two days later. Farrell allegedly admitted to visiting the site, but denied buying or selling drugs on Silk Road 2.0.

The affidavit states Farrell’s roommate described the former Microsoft contractor as bragging about being a hacker with ties to the “Anonymous” collective. He also told authorities Farrell has an “astonishing” drug habit, and receives packages in the mail frequently.

Homeland Security collected more than 100 Xanax pills from the roommate the following day, which had been in a package he allegedly intercepted from Farrell once it was delivered to their home.

According to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court, a search warrant was executed in early January at Farrell’s home, agents seizing computer equipment, various prescription drugs, paraphernalia, $3,900 in silver bullion bars and $35,000 in cash.

The Bellevue man reportedly told agents he acted as support manager to Silk Road 2.0 operator Blake “Defcon” Benthall, who was arrested in San Francisco in November. Farrell went by “DoctorClu,” according to the complaint, and reported making $750 a week at the start and then $1,750 later on. The U.S. Attorney’s Office reports Silk Road 2.0 was generating sales of at least $8 million each month, as of September, and had about 150,000 users.

“You’re not going to find much of a bigger fish than me,” Farrell reportedly told agents during questioning about other SR 2 staff.

Farrell will appear in U.S. District Court in Seattle at 2 p.m. today.